This is a list of important events the occured during 1973. Exact dates are listed when known.

We also have pages on this topic devoted to the 80s and 90s

• OPEC doubles price of oil
  Thus beginning the gas crisis of the 70s, it was only the first step in rising prices. Oil went from $1.50 a barrel to $11.56 a barrel over the course of a few months. This was in retaliation for the support of Isreal. Most of the shortages in the US however were caused by the gas companies who used this as an excuse to raise prices.
  
  
• October war in Israel
  In retaliation for the 1967 defeat, Egypt and Syria attack Israel over occupied lands. In less than a month however, the Israelis had won the war and a US pressured cease-fire had taken place.
  
  
• General Juan Peron returns to Argentina
  
  
• Coup in Chilie
  President Salvador Allende Gossens was assasinated after years of trying to move the country towards Socialism by taking control of businesses throughout the country.
  
  
• Roe vs. Wade abortion law decided by Supreme Court
  This overturned state laws prohibiting first and second trimester abortions.
  
  
• UPC barcodes first introduced
  
  
• Sydney opera house opened
  The famous building with the roof resembling sails opens after 16 years of construction
  
  
• Rabies vaccine requiring five arm shots
  Replaced the 14-21 shot abdominal procedure
  
  
• Sears Tower in Chicago finished
  1454 feet tall, the world's largest building at the time constructed.
  
  
• Spiro Agnew resigns
  He plead no content to charges of tax evasion.
  
  
• AIM seizes Wounded Knee, SD
  The American Indian Movement (AIM) seized the hamlet for 90 days before surrendering. It was a protest of violations to American Indian treaties over the past centuries.
  
  
• Billie Jean King defeats Bobby Riggs in Tennis
  
  
• War Powers Act passed by Congress
  It prevents the president from commitment of US forces abroad for more than 60 days without Congressional approval
  
  
• The Bahamas gain their independence from Britian
  
  
• Nixon releases Watergate tapes
  
  
• Endangered Species act passed
  
  
• Tower Number Two of The World Trade Center opens
  This officially completes the construction of the Center. An official ribbon cutting is held on April 4th 1973.
  
  
• Vietnam War Ends
  President Nixon takes last troops out of Vietnam.
  
  
• Manned Skylab Missions
  Skylab was the United States' first attempt at a space station, and its first laboratory for studying the long-term effects of weightlessness on humans. Two Skylab missions took place entirely in 1973. The third and final manned Skylab mission launched November 13, 1973 and landed February 8, 1974.
  
  

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